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Murphy denies breaking glass on City Hall door

By Lyle Moran, lmoran@lowellsun.com

Updated:
02/21/2013 09:24:55 AM EST

LOWELL -- Mayor Patrick Murphy says he did not break the glass on a City Hall door after Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

In a statement released by his aide Wednesday afternoon, Murphy said he had a post-meeting discussion with Councilor Rodney Elliott, gathered a few things from his second-floor office, and departed the building without incident.

"Before I did, I said goodnight to the janitor who was at the end of the hall to my left," Murphy said. "What happened to the door after I left, I don't know. While I don't see how it could have been broken as described, I certainly don't see what any of this has to do with me."

Councilors Ed Kennedy, Rita Mercier and Elliott told The Sun that a city janitor asked them as they were exiting City Hall why Murphy was so upset.

The councilors said nothing happened during the meeting that they were aware of, and asked the janitor why he was inquiring.

"He said, 'The mayor stormed out of City Hall and slammed the door and the glass broke,'" Kennedy said.

Elliott and Mercier confirmed Kennedy's account as to what janitor Andy Garabedian said.

"The janitor would never say that to that many councilors if he was not certain," Kennedy added.

The door in question is in the City Hall basement leading out to the JFK Plaza and is closest to the main stairs of the building.

Garabedian also asked a Sun reporter viewing the broken glass Tuesday night, "What made the mayor so upset at the meeting that he would do this?"

Garabedian then made a phone call in the reporter's presence to an unidentified person and told them the mayor broke the glass on the door.

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Elliott said Garabedian was visibly upset when he approached the councilors and the councilor believes Garabedian's account.

"Andy is one of the most honest and decent young men around," Elliott said Wednesday. "He would be the last person in the world who would lie to us."

City Councilor Marty Lorrey also told The Sun that as he was walking out of City Hall, Garabedian told him Murphy broke the glass on the door.

Murphy did not respond to a request for comment beyond his statement. Garabedian did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Capt. Kelly Richardson, a police spokesman, said officers leaving the council meeting noticed the damage and notified City Hall maintenance. He said he did not know what happened after that.

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